Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar
7 Lesser Known facts about Lata Mangeshkar
The eldest of four siblings, Lata Mangeshkar is one of the most well know, respected and loved voices in the history of Indian Cinema. With a career that has spanned over seven decades, Lata Didi, as she is fondly called, is the recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke award and the second vocalist to have received the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in the country.
When it comes to Bollywood music, there is no singer who holds the same stature in the hearts of music lovers as Lata Mangeshkar. She has recorded more than a thousand songs in Hindi, Marathi and 36 other languages.
In a candid interview on her birthday with RJ Anmol from Radio Nasha, she fondly mentioned that she still feels 13, the age when she started her singing career. We bring to you 7 lesser known facts about everyone’s favourite, Lata Mangeshkar!
What’s in a Name?
Lata is not the original name of the famed artists. When she was born, she was called Hema. It was only later, her father decided to call her Lata based on a character Latika, from one of his plays ‘BhaawBandhan’. Her surname comes from the village from which her ancestors hail. The name of the village was ‘Mangeshi’ and her father’s family had the privilege of performing the ‘Abhishekam’ at the Mangueshi Temple in the village. While the original family name was Hardikar, her father changed the family name in honour of the village.
Lata Mangeshkar at School
It is very interesting to note that Lata Mangeshkar went to school only for a day. On her very first day at school, she brought her sister Asha Bhosle and her brother to school and started teaching music to the other children in the school. When she was reprimanded for the same, she left the school and decided to never go back again. It is then ironical that she has an honorary doctorate that has been awarded to her by many universities including the New York University.
Her first song was dropped from the film
When her father died of cardiac arrest, Lata Mangeshkar, the oldest of the four siblings started working at the tender age of 13 to support her family. Between 1942 and 1948, she acted in 8 films to earn for her family. She sang her first song in 1942, Naachu Yaa Gade, Khelu Saari Mani Haus Bhaari for a Marathi film, ‘Kiti Hasaal’. The song however never made the final cut of the film. Her debut song was recorded in the same year for another Marathi film, ‘Pahili Mangalaa-gaur’. However, Lata Mangeshkar’s first public performance happened much earlier in 1938 when she performed at the Nutan Theater in Sholapur and sang Raag Khambawati and two Marathi songs.
The story of the poison
Few know that once Lata Mangeshkar was given a slow poison by a person who could not be caught. This instance left her bedridden for almost 3 months.
The reason behind Filmfare Best Female Playback Category
Until 1958, there was no Filmfare award for the Best Female Playback singer. She was the first one who protested about the same. It was only after her protest, this category was included. In 1958, she got her first Filmfare award for the Best Female Playback singer for the song ‘Aaja Re Pardesi’ from the film ‘Madhumati’. Then from 1958 up till 1966, every year she won the Filmfare award in the Best Female playback singer category. This stopped only in 1969, when she graciously declared that she would not accept any award so that fresh talent could be promoted.
Ghulam Haider, the Godfather of Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar received her training in classical music from Ustad Amanat Ali Khan from the Patiala Gharana. After partition, he migrated to Pakistan and Lata Didi continued her training under Amanat Khan Devaswale. 1948 onwards, she was mentored by music director Ghulam Haider. He was also responsible for her first major breakthrough as a singer in 1948 with the movie ‘Majboor’.
The unfulfilled desires of Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar revealed her two biggest unfulfilled desires have been, singing for Dilip Kumar and meeting K.L. Saigal.
For more such interesting stories about your favourite ‘Cool Retro’ artists and to catch your favourite ‘Cool Retro’ songs, tune in now to 107.2 FM Radio Nasha in Delhi and 91.9 FM Radio Nasha in Mumbai!
